I’ve been interested in food as far back as I can remember. I took a special interest in it when I decided to stay home for 3 years to nurture our 2 very young children. That is not when I started reading ingredients. It is however when I started paying attention to them though. It’s one thing to put msg into a 165 lb grown man and another thing to feed it to a 20 some pounder who isn’t yet 3 and is growing a brain at a tremedous rate. I don’t have much of a chemistry background so I used a simple guideline. If it doesn’t sound like food, it probably isn’t.

Susan, our leader, the Grand Poobah of Compassionate Leadership knows this about me and asked me to write something about the Standard American Diet (SAD). It has proven to be quite difficult. I will be happy to make a few installments on this vast topic Americans are showing more and more interest in. Should I talk about what’s in the food, or what’s not in the food? Do Americans just eat what tastes good, or something that’s ready now? We are a group on the go. No doubt about it. The traditional sit down together at a table of home cooked food where we learned the family’s daily happenings like why Dave got in trouble at school or more interesting stuff like what time our big sister got home last night and what was she doing anyway, is getting rare.

I can say eat this, don’t eat that but you can get that at the checkout line. I want to offer guidelines for nourishing yourself and loved ones by making wise choices when selecting food. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. Food selections are ever changing. When they market something as “Old fashioned recipe”, or “Homecooked, it’s just marketing. Mom or Grandma never put polyglycerol esters or carboxymethyl cellulose in anything! Not on purpose anyway. I’m pretty sure they never shook a little disodium guanylate to enhance flavor in anything either. Watch closely with compassion for your body what you allow into your stomach. You consist of that which you subsist on!

You are what you eat. There is a reason you feel good after a good meal. Good food nourishes. Quality food satisfies. You can eat less and feel satisfied. We can all stand to eat a little less. You’ll find it really doesn’t cost more if you do your accounting right. Don’t put substandard fuel in your vehicle. You may find yourself stalled out on the side of the road. How much will that cost you? You can’t grow a strong back on Twinkies. Do they even make them anymore? Put some effort into your meals. Strive for food that is nutrient dense.

Don’t be nutritionally dense! Ignore the processed industrial stuff. Go for the stuff that has no list of ingredients, like a cucumber. There is so much more to say but this is a start. What I want you to remember, with all this being said, and all you read, eating should be enjoyable. Trust your instincts. Spend a little time in the kitchen. You will get better and faster. It’s actually faster than going out to eat once you get the hang of it, and way cheaper.

Bon appetit,
Steve De.

Afterword
You may hear it is a noble challenge to feed the 7 billion people in this world. Industrial agriculture is necessary. Consider this from The National Geographic; If you threw a party and wanted to invite 7 billion people and wanted to give them enough room to dance. You could give everyone 6 square feet and still fit all 7 billion people in the state of Rhode Island. That leaves a lot of space for growing groceries doesn’t it.

Feeding the world’s hungry is not about coming up with enough food. It is about getting it to the people.

We are at a time when we need vital, strong, healthy leaders, leaders of all types, in all walks of life, and especially all ages. When I’m running a big job my biggest challenge is leaving the stress from my job at work. We all get rattled. We all have days when our biorhythms are down, and we get up and go anyway. Leadership is about handling stressful situations and moving forward. “Shedding the effects of stress” is today’s wellness tip. Some simple stretches are invaluable and quick.

Because a body in motion tends to stay in motion, we have to act on our body which is at rest every morning and put it in motion as part of our daily preparation. What do you do to get yourself in motion? After you get your 7-8 hours of peaceful sleep. Right! Nod your head and say uhuh. Let’s leave that for another day. This is not my healthy wealthy and wise lecture. This is my object in motion message. Whatever you do to get out of bed, do that, and tomorrow squeeze in a two minute routine, 4 easy stretches. Just as breakfast sets the pace of your metabolism each day, a few nonconfrontational stretches will be your neurowakening. You know, wake your muscles up, get the blood pumping, oxygenation, all that. I usually get a great yawn out of it too.

Bob and Jean Anderson wrote a book called, “Stretching”. It is one of the most popular fitness books of all time. It’s been translated into 27 languages, probably more by now. In the introduction Bob points out many of the benefits of stretching. Part of what he says is, “Millions of people have discovered the benefits of movement… Many recent studies have shown that active people lead fuller lives. They have more stamina, resist illness,and stay trim. They have more self confidence, are less depressed, and often, even late in life are still working energetically on new projects”. There you have it. That’s you right?

It’s a great book to have. A nice gift for the person who has everything. He even puts together groups of stretches for specific activities.

Here’s a routine I use. I got it from a doctor years ago. I love it. If you’re not already a stretcher, do the first four. You will like the way you feel. Stretching Routine for Relaxation

Please understand, stretching is done to your comfort level. Pain means something is wrong. It’s an ingenious signaling device isn’t it? Pushing to get more out of a stretch is good. It moves you forward. If you start to feel pain back off. Ease into it. Do not bounce into a stretch. It could cause damage. Just press and hold and breath. Remember. Wellness is measured by the abundance of vitality!